First Parish is excited to serve as a remote location for this year’s BBCBB Conference on April 26, 2025. The workshops below will be streamed in our sanctuary. Additional options are available online, please contact the Social Action Committee (email to SAC@fpmalden.org or on the First Parish Discord) for details on remote registration as an individual.
In addition to workshops, we will also be hosting a all/a-gender clothing swap in the library. Feel free to drop in and out throughout the day, but please do register in advance even if you won’t be staying the whole time.
All community members are welcome to attend – no connection to First Parish in Malden or Unitarian Universalism is expected, nevermind required. We appreciate that religious spaces can feel unsafe to members of the trans & nonbinary community and want to assure attendees that they’re welcome to attend without any expectation of participation in religous services or future contact with the congregation.
First Parish events are typically mask-encouraged. We would appreciate participants in the sanctuary programming to remain masked or socially distanced & will provide masks as people arrive. Another group is using several rooms in the building for much of the day. So, please expect to see unmasked people when moving through hallways and to restrooms.
Schedule for Saturday 4-26
8:30-9am – Arrival & Registration
9-9:50am – Supporting Your Neuroqueer Kin: Several studies have shown that autistic individuals are significantly more likely to be transgender than allistic (non-autistic) individuals. Multiple researchers suggest that neurodivergent ways of interpreting the world and neurodivergent resistance to conventional thinking contribute to the comparatively high population of transgender autistics. This workshop guides caregivers and supporters of trans autistic youth and adults through that research, describes the experiences at the nexus of trans and neurodivergent, and shares practical strategies for supporting the neuroqueer individuals in participants’ lives. The workshop will hold space for ample discussion and include time for strategizing individualized supports.
10-10:50am – Relational Resilience: Building Secure, Authentic Connections. Learn skills and strategies for fostering strong, meaningful relationships that can withstand challenges and foster emotional security.
11-11:50am – Creating Fat Liberation in Trans Spaces: This workshop will be a blend of personal story sharing, education and discussion around anti-fat bias and how it can be perpetuated in Trans spaces. Education will be centered on anti-fat bias and how it intersects with anti-trans rhetoric. Please come prepared to ask questions and share some of your experiences of fat joy and resistance. By the end, you will walk away with a basic understanding of anti-fat bias and how to spot it, as well as a few tips on how to make your spaces more inclusive of all bodies.
11:50am – 1pm – Lunch Break – First Parish will coordinate a pizza order, attendees are welcome to bring their own bag lunch, or eat in nearby Malden Center.
1-2:30pm – Keynote Address: Spencer Bergstedt
Spencer Bergstedt is a consultant, public speaker, educator, and author specializing in LGBTQ workplace, health care, and educational inclusion issues. Spencer has been advocating for LGBTQ people for over 30 years. His work on transgender legal issues has garnered him an international reputation for both scholarly theory and practical application. Spencer’s work has impacted birth certificate and driver’s license policies, youth participation in after-school activities, and self-help legal information for trans people throughout the US. His lived experience as a transman combined with his legal expertise and executive leadership roles bring a unique breadth of understanding to his clients. Spencer is an engaging presenter who fosters greater understanding on the topic of gender diversity in an open and supportive manner.
2:45-3:50pm – Secondhand Masculinity: This is workshop dedicated to exploring the way we currently understand masculinity and how we can challenge it to be so much more. The presentation will define masculinity as we see it currently, exploring the influences on what builds those ideas. The workshop will unpack toxic gender roles and their impact on both people who are masculine as well as those they interact with. Further, the workshop helps participants understand the impact and importance this holds for generations to come, laying the foundation for a new way of understanding masculinity. The workshop utilizes audience participation and activities to cultivate a safe and interactive way to learn.